Comparisons Christianity, Islam, Jewish Essay, Research Paper

Throughout history, Christians have persecuted Jews. Jews have been the target of prejudice and many conversion attempts. However, Christianity has the same origins and core beliefs as Judaism.

The similarities between Christianity and Judaism are numerous. For example, both Jews and Christians believe in monotheism, the faith in one god. Furthermore, both religions worship the same God, although they name Him differently. The Christian name for God is Jehovah, while the Jews’ is Yahweh. This is because Christianity was derived from Judaism.

Both religions believe in the teachings of the first five books of the Bible. The five books of Moses are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Jews call this collection the Torah or Hebrew Bible. The Christian Church labels it the Old Testament. Jews and Christians both follow the Old Testament, and believe in its teachings.

Both Christians and Jews believe that a savior will come. Although the Jews do not believe in Jesus as the messiah, they do believe a savior will come. Jews believe that this messiah figure will emerge as a great king after the style of David. The monarch would usher in a new era of peach and justice, in which all other nation would be united. Christians also believe that their savior Christ will return again, on the final Day of Judgment.

The Christian and Jewish faiths have many differences as well. The Christians believe that Jesus was the messiah, while present-day Jews believe their savior is yet to come.

The New Testament is another area where Jews and Christians disagree. The New Testament, because men wrote it, holds no truth in the eyes of the Jews. Christians follow the New Testament because the disciples, and people who witnessed the miracles of God wrote it.

Christianity and Judaism differ in their holy books as well. The Mishna and Talmud are the two main Jewish books, other than the Torah. The Mishna elaborates upon the teachings of the Torah, while the Talmud explains these teachings. The Christian Holy Bible consists of two parts, the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament, sometimes called the Books of Moses, is the same as the Talmud. The books of the New Testament contain the church’s statement of who Jesus was, and what his life and teachings meant.

Although Christian and Jews have a history of fighting over their differences, they also share a wealth of commonalities.

On the surface, Islam and Christianity appear to have very little in common, however, as you get deeper into areas such as rituals, beliefs, ethics, founders, and sacred objects, the two show strong mutual similarities, particularly in the fundamental areas. In this essay I will compare and contrast the doctrines that make up the worlds largest and most recognized religions, Christianity and Islam.

The word Islam means “surrender” or “submission,” submission to the will of Allah, the one God. Muslims are those who have submitted themselves. The basic creed of Islam is brief: Both Muslims and Christians are monotheists, believing in the same god, referred to as “Allah” by the Muslims and “God” by Catholics. Islam teaches that there is one God, the creator and sustainer of the universe. This God, Allah, is compassionate and honorable. Because he is compassionate, he calls all people to believe in him and worship him. Because he is also lawful, on the Last Day He will judge every person according to his deeds. On the Last Day, all the dead will be resurrected and either rewarded in heaven or punished in hell.

Christianity parallels the singular view of God. In the Christian Bible one of the Ten Commandments states that “I am the Lord thy God…..thou shalt have no other gods before me”. Also, identical to Islam, God is considered the creator of the universe, and he is also just. On the last day, or judgment day, the same holds true within Islam and Christian beliefs, the dead will be resurrected and either rewarded with heaven or punished with hell.

In Islam, God sent prophets to communicate his will. These prophets, all mortal men, were elected messengers to whom God spoke through an angel or by inspiration, this is identical to Christianity. Another example of the use of prophets was God sending Moses to free his people out of Egypt. Both Islam and Christianity have practices or duties that are central to the life of there religious community. Catholics are expected to take part in as many of the Seven Sacraments as possible, while Muslims are expected to practice all of the Five Pillars Of Islam.. In this sense Islam and Christianity are considerably intertwined, appearing to come from the same beginning. Both Islam and Christianity are based primarily on the lives and teachings of men sent by God. In Christianity, Jesus was the son of God, sent down to earth to spread the word of the Lord to the people, and ultimately die a brutal death so that this people may reach eternal peace in heaven. Christians praise Jesus’ suffering for them as well as for his teachings and for the miracles he performed to assist the needy. Despite the fact that Islam and Christianity share a mutual God, Muslims do not believe that Jesus was his son; instead they identify Jesus as a prophet.

Islamics also believe in forgiveness, another basic Christian principle, Islam teaches that God is always ready to pardon the individual and restore him to the sinless state in which he started life. In Christianity this is called being “born again”.

This greatly distinguishes the two religions, as Jesus’ relation to God is one of the fundamental beliefs in Christianity. The Islamic religion is almost based solely on the teachings of the prophet Muhammad, who like Jesus, was a shepherd boy.

Christianity is a religion in which events are claimed to have occurred but which can never be proved. Those who practice it live by different morals than are preached by the holy texts. It is an institution in which holy scripture is contradictory, and wherein the supreme being, by the very definition, cannot exist. Christianity is, therefore, a fundamentally flawed religion. According to the Bible, events have occurred which are even more miraculous than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Events such as the stopping of the sun by Joshua (Joshua 10:12-14), the reversal of the sun’s course by Isaiah (Isaiah 38:7-8). The stopping and reversal of the sun would have been visible worldwide. The idea that people could have witnessed these events without having been amazed by them is, quite simply, ludicrous. Other cultures having witnessed this would certainly have offered their own explanations in keeping with their own cultural and religious beliefs. Surely a society existing at the time would have documented this miraculous event. Yet nowhere have such works been found.

The Christian Bible is highly contradictory, not just to modern day Christian beliefs, but in and of itself. Today’s society is of the belief that all people are created equal, and Christians submit that their god is of the same belief. Modern Christians believe that their god loves everyone, and that they are all equal. However, after Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree forbidden by god, this deity said to Eve “I will intensify the pangs of your childbearing; in pain shall you bring forth children. Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall be your master.” (Genesis 3:16). This tells us that, according to the Christian religion, women shall naturally be dominated by men. This kind of behavior is not conducive to a being who believes in inherent equality.

Women are repeatedly treated as objects and told to be submissive in the Bible.

Had there been no sins of mankind, there would be no story of Christ. The nature of sin must then therefore be analyzed. It is accepted by Christians that god created everything. If this is true, then this same god created evil. It is written in the Bible that god is all-knowing (1 John 3:20). God is, in effect, omniscient. If god is omniscient and creates, he then knows all possible outcomes of all possible creations of all possible universes. If he created our universe, he chose what its destiny would be. In doing so, he chose the paths of our lives. Thus, we can conclude that the universe is completely deterministic to god and, by being a creator, he cannot allow freewill to exist unless the universe is no longer predetermined to him. If this is true, then humanity is merely a collection of automatons. If this is not true, then god cannot be omniscient. If the Christian god were omniscient, then he could foresee his own future. If this being knows its own future, he does not have the power to change it. Considering, however, that god is omnipotent, there is a major conflict with his omniscient nature.

If God were able to change the future, that would mean that God would not be able to foresee when he would make sudden changes in his future and what changes would result, eliminating the possibility of his being omniscient. Therefore, these qualities cannot be held simultaneously by one being. It is important now to look at the possibility of omnipotence. The Christian god is perfectly good and omnipotent. Yet evil exists. If god is omnipotent and perfectly good, he could and would dispel evil.

It can easily be seen that Christianity is a religion based on falsehoods and has many intrinsic flaws. They are seen by the fact that the followers of this religion do not conduct themselves in the manner proscribed by their most holy texts.

Muslims believe that the present life is only a trial preparation for the next realm of existence. When a Muslim dies, he or she is washed, usually by a family member, wrapped in a clean white cloth, and buried with a simple prayer on the same day. They believe this is the final service they can do for the relative. Muslims have a code which forbids the consumption of pig meat or any kind of intoxicating drink. They are taught that their body has rights over them and the leading of a healthy lifestyle is seen as a religious obligation.

A fundamental flaw for me in Christianity is the White Christ, simple geography shows us (that Jesus has blonde hair blue eyes) that the bible takes place in Egypt and Africa. These countries have pure minorities along with Jerusalem and Bethlehem where he stayed. Yet they say the Lord is what you perceive of him and we do live in a predominately white society, which would leave most people to believe he is a White Christ.

For me personally I don’t know a lot about the Islamic traditions, however they practice what they preach ( five times a day). Their religion is emphasized to the fullest leaving their whole community on the same page. Christians practices there religion as well, however in North America people are very free and out spoken which leaves them more acceptable to a variety of beliefs . In foreign countries they have more boarders and boundaries in which the restrictions are much higher. These two beliefs are some of many that keeps the world on it toes.

Bibliography

The Bible